Streaming services are known for having award-worthy series but also plenty of duds. Our guide to the best TV shows on Netflix is updated weekly to help you know which series you should move to the top of your queue. They aren’t all surefire winners—we love a good less-than-obvious gem—but they’re all worth your time, trust us.
Feel like you’ve already watched everything on this list that you want to see? Try our guide to the best movies on Netflix for more options. And if you’ve already completed Netflix and are in need of a new challenge, check out our picks for the best shows on Hulu and the best shows on Disney+. Don’t like our picks or want to offer suggestions of your own? Head to the comments below.
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Last Samurai Standing
Set in late 1800s Japan, Last Samurai Standing follows retired samurai Shujiro Saga (Junichi Okada), who enters the savage "Kodoku" tournament in a desperate effort to save his family, struck down by cholera. The problem is, he's one of 292 former samurai aiming to win the ¥100,000 prize, and the only way to progress through the competition is to collect tags from fallen enemies and pass through checkpoints set up by the event's mysterious organizers. It's going to be a bloodbath. Based on the series of Japanese novels written by Shogo Imamura and illustrated by Katsumi Tatsuzawa, this packs in some of the finest sword duels and martial arts sequences ever committed to the screen, all while exploring the rapidly changing face of Japanese society after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Think Squid Game set in Meiji era Japan, and you're scratching the surface of this thrilling six-episode miniseries.
Splinter Cell: Deathwatch
Netflix's roster of adult animation adds another hit with this spin-off of Ubisoft's spy action series. Set years after the events of the games, Deathwatch finds grizzled veteran Sam Fisher (Liev Schreiber) dragged out of retirement to rescue a younger agent, Zinnia McKenna (Kirby Howell-Baptiste, known mononymously as Kirby), after one of her own missions goes grievously wrong. It's a dark and gritty affair, both tonally and visually—the animation is handled by a cohort of Danish and French studios, giving it more a bande dessinée look rather than aping anime—boasting top-notch action throughout. What else would you expect though, given the show was developed for screen by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad? Already renewed for a second season, this brutal epic is only getting started.
The Witcher
Almost everything is different in The Witcher’s fourth season. Gone is former leading man Henry Cavill, with Liam Hemsworth donning the gray wig as monster-slaying Geralt of Rivia in his place. It's been a controversial switch, but Hemsworth holds his own well enough, despite being perhaps a bit too cautious in his portrayal. However, this latest chapter in the fantasy epic, based on the novels of Andrzej Sapkowski, really belongs to sorceress Yennefer (the returning Anya Chalotra), gathering forces against the dark mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu), and trainee Witcher Ciri (Freya Allen), seeking a new life for herself with a group of thieves called the Rats. While the core trio's tales barely intersect this season, the distance allows each to stand on their own strengths. It also sets the stage for greater things to come in the fifth and final season. This Cavill-less Witcher might take some getting used to, but if you've been watching since the beginning, it's definitely worth sticking around.
Boots
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